In his own words · Envy

“It is not greed that drives the world, but envy.”

— Charlie Munger · Warren Buffett, quoted by Munger in Poor Charlie's Almanack

Verified. Sourced to Warren Buffett, quoted by Munger in Poor Charlie's Almanack.

Munger made this famous, but he explicitly and repeatedly credited Warren Buffett — “I have heard him wisely say on several occasions, ‘It is not greed that drives the world but envy.’” The line is Buffett's; see the borrowed-lines section of /misattributed/.

More Munger on Envy

“Envy is a really stupid sin because it's the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There's a lot of pain and no fun. Why would you want to get on that trolley?”

2007 USC Law School commencement address · 2007 · where he said it ↗

“The world is not driven by greed. It's driven by envy.”

Attributed to Munger (variant phrasing) · attributed

A shorter variant of the 'envy, not greed' idea; Munger frequently credited Buffett. Treat wording as approximate.

“They were having trouble with envy a long time ago. And it's a perfectly terrible thing to do, and how much fun can you have being envious?”

Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, 2013 (morning session) · 2013 · where he said it ↗

On 'thou shalt not covet'; he added envy is 'the one sin there's no fun in.'

“I have conquered envy in my own life. I don't envy anybody. I don't give a damn what somebody else has.”

Daily Journal Corporation annual meeting, 2022 · 2022 · where he said it ↗

All envy quotes